1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vehicle seat belt apparatus that makes it easy to wear and retract a seat belt and that does not deteriorate the ease of entry/exit or the ability of a lap belt to retrain a hip.
2. Description of Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-256532 (JP-A-2006-256532) describes a seat belt apparatus as shown in FIG. 15. The seat belt apparatus includes a boot member 1 at an outer anchor 2 to wrap the distal end portion of a seat belt 3. The seat belt apparatus includes forward tilting retaining means 6 formed of a magnet 4 and an iron plate 5. The magnet 4 and the iron plate 5 are respectively provided at the boot member 1 and at the lower portion of a seat. The forward tilting retaining means 6 makes it easy to withdraw the seat belt 3 in such a manner that the boot member 1 is retained at a forward tilting position when the boot member 1 is pivoted to the forward tilting position, and releases the boot member 1 when operating force that exceeds the retaining force by which the booth member 1 is retained at the forward tilting position is exerted rearward.
However, the existing seat belt apparatus has the following problems.
(i) Because the boot member 1 is retained by the magnet 4 and the iron plate 5, the seat belt 3 and a tongue plate are not moved to a front position at which an occupant easily holds the seat belt 3 and the tongue plate unless the occupant tilts the boot member 1 forward. In addition, unless the occupant moves the boot member 1 rearward, the seat belt 3 cannot be retracted, and the seat belt cannot be automatically retracted. Thus, there is room for improvement in the wearability and retractability of the seat belt.(ii) In addition, the seat belt 3 is supported by the rigid resin boot member 1, so the seat belt 3 and the tongue plate cannot be extended forward to a position at which the seat belt 3 and the tongue plate are easily held by hand in such a manner that the boot member 1 is extended to above a seat rigid member 7. If the boot member 1 is extended to above the seat rigid member 7, there is a problem that a gap is formed at the boot member side between the lap belt and the hip to decrease the ability of the lap belt portion to restrain the hip and, in addition, the ease of entry/exit is deteriorated because the boot member 1 lies in the way when the boot member 1 is located at the forward tilting position.